Gustave Loiseau was amongst the radical group of Post-Impressionists that travelled to Brittany at the turn of the 20th century, drawn to the remote landscape and rustic traditions of the region. First arriving in the village of Pont-Aven in 1890; Loiseau quickly settled into life at the Pension Gloanec, which had become a focal point for the Symbolist painter Paul Gauguin and his followers including Maxime Maufra, Émile Bernard and Henry Moret. Loiseau first encountered Gauguin in 1894 when he encouraged the young artist to create a unique style of painting motivated by Impressionism, but faithful to the true sensations of nature. Each summer Loiseau returned to paint the rolling hills and valleys of Brittany until 1928 when he settled permanently in his studios at Pontoise and Paris.

Loiseau increasingly turned to subjects from daily life during the mature period of his career. In this painting of Pont-Aven, Loiseau focuses upon the flurry of activity in the village as the congregation from mass streams out into the streets. Looking down from the open window of his studio, Loiseau highlights the women’s traditional Breton costumes with flashes of white across their starched collars and lace Coiffes. By employing the Post-Impressionist technique of short, hatched brushstrokes of colour, Loiseau is able to suggest the nuances of light across the paved road and slanted roofs in the early evening sun.

Loiseau painted a number of works of Pont-Aven in the early 1920s at different moments of the day and under different conditions. This style of working was inspired by the older generation of Impressionists such as Alfred Sisley and Claude Monet who frequently returned to the same subjects to capture the effects of changing light and atmosphere. Many of the works from this series are now in private collections and this particular example of the Pont-Aven series was originally handled by the famous Impressionist dealer Paul Durand-Ruel, who began to represent Loiseau in 1898. Gustave Loiseau’s work can now be found in public collections around the world including Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid; Art Institute of Chicago; Musée d’Orsay, Paris and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Exhibitions

Montclair, New Jersey, Montclair Art Museum, 1 January 1928

Lehigh, Pennsylvania, Lehigh University, 1 May 1928

Literature

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity (no. C 833) signed by Didier Imbert and dated 16 December 2016, stating that it will be included in the forthcoming Gustave Loiseau Catalogue Raisonne currently being prepared